Colin Jost may not be competing as an athlete at the 2024 Summer Olympics, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting injured at the games anyway.
The SNL star is currently reporting live from Teahupoʻo, Tahiti, covering the Olympic surfing competition on behalf of NBC. While that seems like a pretty sweet gig (especially for an “avid surfer” like Jost), it’s apparently not all fun and games.
On Friday, Jost took to Instagram to showcase a ghastly photo of his bloody toes. “This might ruin my WikiFeet score, but I just arrived in Tahiti for the surfing Olympics and the reef was excited to greet me,” he wrote.
The foot saga didn’t end there. Today, the “Weekend Update” co-anchor shared yet another grisly medical update. “You know it’s going great when you’ve been to the Olympic medical tent more than any of the athletes,” he captioned a photo showcasing three of his toes wrapped in gauze.
Jost explained the backstory behind his injuries in a segment with NBC’s Maria Taylor on Monday. While he called the opportunity to cover the Olympics a “total joy,” he also admitted that there have been some “obstacles” he wasn’t quite expecting.
“I had gotten some open wounds on my foot from hitting a coral reef,” he said. “I actually have been walking in place in this yard, because if I stand still, ants begin crawling inside the wounds, which was, you know, not something I anticipated. I’m apparently going to a medical tent after this, which is very exciting.”
That’s not the comedian’s only brush with dangerous creatures either. Jost revealed that earlier, he stood in the water only to find out that there were venomous stonefish swimming around. “Yesterday, someone was there [and] stepped on one,” he explained. “It was so poisonous, he had to be medevacked off the island.”
“Based on the fact that ants are still eating my feet, I would say I’m being set up for failure,” he said. “I also feel like that’s kinda what America wants to see. I don’t think anyone’s at home like, ‘I’d like to see him succeed out there.’”
On Sunday night, Jost bonded with French surfer Johanne Defay over their shared surfing injuries. “I know what you’re going through,” he joked, showing off his bandaged toes for the camera.
Naturally, the internet has been quick to react to the SNL star’s injuries, provoking a visceral response that hasn’t been seen since Bob Costas got pink eye at the 2014 Sochi Games.
“I will give you money to stop showing your feet. Please,” one Instagram commenter begged Jost. Another user wrote that they had “never seen a foot that looks like it could benefit from having six toes.”
To ensure that Jost actually makes it home safely from Tahiti, Taylor had some of her own suggestions for Jost.
“I’m proud of you for continuing to put your life on the line so you can continue to have stories to tell America,” Taylor joked. “What I would really like you to do is wrap yourself in bubble wrap, grab one of those chickens [roaming in the background], and, like, Netflix and chill and sit down somewhere. Because we need you to make it through the rest of this assignment if you don’t mind.”
Taylor’s approach may be unorthodox, but she’s got a point. We’ll need Jost around for Season 50 of SNL in September—preferably with all of his toes.
